Rondo (Boss)
Rondo is an assassin in service to Count Waltz of Forte. As a boss, she is first fought in Aria Temple's Gallery of Light in the [[World of Eternal Sonata|World of Eternal Sonata]] and later appears in A Reunion with Death on Basement Level 11 of Mysterious Unison, holding one of Claves's Soul Shards. Story The party travels to the top floor of Aria Temple and finds themselves in what appears to be a dead end. Just then, a woman reveals herself. It's Rondo, who tracked the party there from Ritardando. She promises the party safety if they turn over Polka, who is wanted by Count Waltz because her astra has the power to make agogos glow, which is needed to create enhanced mineral powder. Just then, Falsetto appears on the scene. She apologizes for having run away and outs Rondo as the person who assassinated Claves. She expresses her anger at this, but Rondo tries to play her by suggesting that she could become a spy in Claves's place. Falsetto expresses her anger at Rondo's callousness and then joins the party in fighting and defeating Claves. Later, the party unlocks a door in the Noise Dunes of Fantasy and finds themselves in a dungeon called Mysterious Unison. There, they discover Claves, and learn that the shards of her soul are scattered throughout the maze. They travel down through the dungeon, collecting the shards, and eventually come upon Rondo, who woke up in the dungeon following her defeat and is now holding one of Claves's Soul Shards. They again fight and defeat her and claim the Soul Shard. Attacks Rondo is fast, but her normal physical attacks deal very little damage. The main threat comes from the speed with which she can execute her Special Attacks and the status ailments that they can inflict. She is also very quick in moving across the field to execute her attacks. Her most commonly used move seems to be Grand Venom. This is an attack on a single target from a slight distance that carries a chance of Slow. One of her most dangerous moves is Hell Eruption, which is an icy attack on everyone in range that carries a chance of Stop status. Fer de Lance is a double hit with her lances with a strong chance of knockdown. Finally, Bombardment is a powerful multi-hit attack at melee range, with a finishing blow that sends a line of ice in a horizontal line with a chance of knockdown. In the battle with her in Mysterious Unison, her attacks carry a fiery appearance instead and Hell Eruption no longer has a chance of Stop, but can now hit from infinite distance. Strategy The first thing to note is that in the first battle with Rondo, Falsetto's presence in the party is required. She will force out whoever is in position three, so it is best to choose the two best characters in the party prior to moving forward and place them in positions one or two, and equip them with the best accessories possible. Frederic is a very good choice, as he can both do a lot of damage with his Orzel Bialy and heal with Spirits Pathway. If playing the PlayStation 3 version, he becomes an even better option with his Gold Baton weapon that places him in permanent Burst. Otherwise, Allegretto is a great choice with Hellstriker, and Viola can both heal and attack from a distance, and use Hawk Eye for a chance of marking Rondo for damage when healing isn't needed. The item set should be mostly Angel Trumpets and Goddess Bouquets, and it's probably a good idea to put in a Very Odd Chocolate to lower Rondo's attack power and a Sock Incense to lower her defense. A Clover item or two may also be a good choice if not using two healers, and perhaps a couple of Cookies if there are item slots left over. Completing the third Dolce fight and obtaining the Werewolf Choker can help a lot with this battle, but is not required if the right strategy is used. Use equipment that protects against Slow status, and in Encore Mode, Stop status as well, if obtained. Alternatively, put some items into the Item Set to heal these statuses. In the PlayStation 3 version, if Falsetto reached Level 25 before leaving the party at the end of the events in Andante, she will have Shadow Beam in addition to her Snow Claw Special Attack in the light, so she will be able to do Harmony Chains. In the Xbox 360 version, she learns this skill at Level 30, so it is unlikely that she will possess it unless the player did a fair bit of unnecessary level-grinding, as the most cautious guides suggest battling Death Crow at Level 26. Snow Claw's knockdown effect can be quite helpful in this battle. It is probably best to always use it at the end of Falsetto's turn in this battle unless Echoes are at 16 or higher, as this move will build up an Echo count of 8 and the chance of the knockdown effect, as well as the damage dealt, is worth sacrificing 4 Echoes. If using both Allegretto and Frederic, the entire party will have no choice but to attack from melee range, but this group should have enough power to overwhelm Rondo fairly quickly. If using Viola, keep her at some distance, and make sure to target carefully. In the PlayStation 3 version, if her Imperial Bow was obtained, then she can do massive amounts of damage as well, since it will give her Burst status. If playing the Xbox 360 version, it should be equipped anyway, since it increases everyone's earned EXP by 5%. An alternative choice is March. Equip her with the Dark Brooch and make sure she uses Aurora Curtain every turn to help protect the party from damage. If she has reached Level 30, she can also use Midnight Cloud to build up a lot of Echoes, but it is unlikely that she will have learned it by this point, unless a lot of time has been spent leveling up. The second fight against Rondo is a lot like the first fight. Rondo carries a new appearance. Her attacks hit rather harder and she has much more HP, but her attack set is the same other than the previously noted difference in Hell Eruption. Use the powers of Party Level 6 to hit her fast and hard with a series of Special Attacks via Harmony Chains and have a powerful healer such as Frederic, Polka or Serenade in the party to keep everyone well-healed. A Very Odd Chocolate and Sock Incense will again help and equip accessories that increase HP and strength. If everyone is wearing Burst equipment, they can actually make fairly short work of this fight, so long as the player is reasonably decent at Guarding to protect against the worst of Rondo's damage. In Encore Mode, Rondo will hit a lot harder in the first fight against her, but the party has new powers as well. Assuming Party Level 6 was obtained, just have any character other than Falsetto (assuming the party is in the light) do a Special Attack on Rondo and then follow it up with a series of Harmony Chains and Rondo should fall in three to four rounds if powerful attackers are used. The Unison fight will be rather more challenging since that fight takes place with Party Level 6 in normal mode anyway, but as long as the player follows the same basic strategy and makes sure to heal if Rondo puts anyone in critical, then it really shouldn't be too much of a hassle. The main thing to watch out for in this fight is that Rondo is incredibly fast in moving across the field, so she can easily close distance with any character to attack, even if they are all the way at the other end of the field. Battle Quotes Battle Opening *So, all the lost sheep will flock together. (1st battle) *Writhe in pain! (2nd battle) *Suffer! (2nd battle) Character Responses *'Falsetto': No matter what, I will never lose to you! (Xbox 360) *'Falsetto': I promise you, I will not be defeated! (PS3) Special Attacks *'Bombardment' **Take that, you swine! *'Fer de Lance' **Take that, vile rat! **Take that, filthy roach! *'Hell Eruption' **Take that, filthy roach! Following Special Attacks *Ha! Victorious Against Party *Amateurs. Special Attacks Gallery Rondo Uses Bombardment.jpg|Bombardment Rondo Uses Fer de Lance.jpg|Fer de Lance Rondo Uses Grand Venom.jpg|Grand Venom Rondo Uses Hell Eruption.jpg|Hell Eruption Trivia *In the PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata, the amount of EXP granted for defeating Rondo is reduced by over half in the first fight and by over 2/3 in the second fight. *In the PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata, the player is rewarded with 10,000,000 Gold for defeating Rondo in Mysterious Unison, while in the Xbox 360 version, none is given. This is likely a compensation for the fact that Photos sell for much less Gold in the PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata. *Rondo's second form in the Mysterious Unison dungeon is often referred to by fans as "Unison Rondo". Related enemies *Tuba *Fugue *Waltz Category:Human Bosses